Ľuboslav Dérer, Director of Maslen, s.r.o., talks about excellent cooperation with the Košice steelworks
Maslen s.r.o., a Slovakian leader in the area of production and sales of the roof coverings and profile sheets, is one of our long-term customers. We sell them prepainted and galvanized sheets, and supplies are growing every year by 6 to 10%. The representatives of this company, located in Badín near Banská Bystrica, visit Košice regularly on their business trips. During the last visit we talked with Ľuboslav Dérer, the Company Director, who assessed our cooperation, disclosed the relationship between Maslen and ice-hockey in Košice, and presented an interesting offer for our employees.
Why did you choose U. S. Steel Košice as the main supplier of sheets?
The high quality of your products and the steel-making tradition in Košice convinced us to take sheets from U. S. Steel Košice. However, there is also another aspect. As a Slovakian producer we want to manufacture products with Slovakian origin. In addition, transport of goods from the shortest possible distance (not from the other side of the globe) is the most advantageous way in terms of economy and ecology. The excellent mutual relations developed during our cooperation and reliability in the supply of input raw materials for our products, i.e. roof coverings and profile sheets, are also critical.
Our cooperation has lasted for many years. How do you assess it?
Our Company has been trading with the Košice plant since 1992, so this cooperation has lasted almost 25 years. However, the results of this cooperation are more important. We at Maslen assess these results as excellent and we are very glad that your managers have the same opinion in respect to our business relations. During this period the local buyer of galvanized sheets became a partner of U. S. Steel Košice, buying annually thousands of tons of prepainted sheets with high added value.
How do we differ from our competitors?
It is mainly the customer service you provide. To be more specific, this includes especially the requirements placed on traders, your technical support and response to emerging situations that is much faster in comparison with other suppliers. The various claim proceedings do not take too long, and these situations are settled in real time.
What are your future plans? Will you continue with production of roof coverings using steel from Košice?
Certainly yes. Our experience with sheets from Košice is the best. In addition to Slovakia, we are present on the markets in the adjacent countries, where sheets from U. S. Steel Košice are accepted and demanded. We are expanding our presence on the foreign markets every year. I believe that we couldn´t succeed without guaranteed quality of the input semi-products. We are planning to extend and support our good cooperation.
Recently, Maslen became one of the sponsors of HC Košice. Why have you decided to support ice-hockey in Košice?
So far we have sponsored ice-hockey in Košice for two seasons, and we are planning to sponsor it in the future depending on our financial resources. We are ice-hockey fans, regardless of the fact that the hockey club in Banská Bystrica is our domestic club. Your company is the general sponsor of HC Košice, so we see this as our way of saying thank you for good cooperation with the plant in Košice. As HC Košice belongs among the top clubs in Slovakia, it also provides very good promotion and a certain prestige for our brand. At the same time we have become fans of HC Košice, so now we have two clubs we are keeping our fingers crossed for.
Based on our long-term cooperation and good relations, we are offering your products to our employees for better prices. Where can they get them in Košice and nearby?
In Slovakia we have 26 sheet-products centers available, where we offer our customers various options of purchasing roof coverings, profile sheets, tinsmithing services, and a wide assortment of roof accessories, tinsmithing tools and cost-free bending of sheets on our professional bending machines. Your employees can buy our products in all our branches. In Košice you can find us at no. 2 Jarmočná Street.
